DURHAM, N.H.— The University of New Hampshire’s Army
Reserve Officer Training Corps program (ROTC) has been recognized
with a MacArthur Award as a top-performing unit for medium-sized
schools.

The MacArthur Awards were instituted in 1989 to honor the top Army
ROTC units from around the country, according to the executive director
of the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation, retired Marine Corps Col.
William J. Davis.

“The awards recognize the individual units within the Army
ROTC program that have achieved the standards that best represent
the ideals of the watch words of ‘Duty- Honor- Country’
as practiced by General MacArthur,” Davis said.

‘This is a tremendous honor for our program,” notes
Lt. Col. Harry Prantl, U.S. Army at the UNH Army ROTC. “It
recognizes the outstanding performance of our cadets and the commitment
that our department has to our cadets. It also recognizes the quality
of cadets that are entering our program. We have been fortunate
to attract the best scholar-athlete-leaders from New England high
schools, the local National Guard and Army Reserve.”

The Army ROTC battalions selected for the awards were the most successful
of the Commands’ 272 units in accomplishing their mission
of training and commissioning the majority of the lieutenants entering
the Army each year.

ROTC units are located at 272 colleges and universities throughout
the country. Students at nearly 1,200 other institutions of higher
learning also can participate in Army ROTC training through partnership
agreements with nearby schools. Since the establishment of the program
in 1916, more than 500,000 men and women have gone on to become
Army officers through Army ROTC.